DROWNING FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 157, 2 January 1912, Page 4

DROWNING FATALITY.

' COMEDY TURNS TO TRAGEDY. IN LYTTELTON HARBOR. By Telegraph—Press Association. V Christchurch, Last-Night. A drowning tragedy took' p'ace .at Lyttelton to-day during the progress of the regatta, A crow of six had bxm enr gaged from the s.s. Morayshire ; \iy the. regatta committee to «ct as a "darktown crew." , , ' The crnw consisted of M- Kellan, fireman; James Kennedy, storekeeper*; W. Rowlands, A.8.; J. Lake. A.B.;.lf.\Warein, ordinary seaman, and O'Connort ordinary seanwn. } , Their antics had amused the crowt| all day. At about 3 o'clock, just after ;the explosion, they were floating along Within twelve feet of No. 2 wharf, watlhed by a crowd of many hundreds. Suddenly O'Connor esipied a hat floating in:the water. He wanted to dive in for it. Kellan; said: "Don't go in the water; you can't swim, and we can pick it* up froim the bow of the boat." O'Connor, however, replied that he could swam all right, and that the act would amuse the crowd. / He accordingly jumped overboard, had not gone far when Kellan saw him showing signs of distress. Kellan shouted out to Rowlands. "This man's going down; hang on to him till I get my boat." Rowland jumped overboard to O'Connor's assistance, and some one threw an oar to the struggling man* By the time Kellan was ready Rowland was also in trouble, and when Kellan caught hold of O'Connor, who was now in a very bad way, having been under the water for some minutes, Rowlands caught Kellan round the neck, pulling the three of them under.

Keilan did the only possible thing he could. He shook both men off and then clutched hold of O'Connor again. By this time Kellan was beginning to feel the effects of his immersion in the water, cramp making itself manifest.

The boat, with the pther three men, hfulin the meanwhile drifted away, and having but one oar left was unable to do anything. All the while the crowd on the wharf, thinking it was all but a good joke, and not realising that coniedy had turned to tragedy, laughed heartily. Fortunately just at this time the crews of two racing hjoats realised the seriousness of the situation, and came up just in time to save Kellan and O'Connor, but Rowlands had disappeared. Kellan very quickly recovered, but O'Connor was in a bad way, having been under water for seven minutes. If it had not been for the strenuous efforts of Messrs W. R. Stevents, a member of the Christchurch Railway Ambulance division, P. R. Hind and" R, H. Veitch, he must have succumbed. Fihially, however, after about three-quarters of an hour's effort he pulled round. He was taken to the British Hotel. It was stated that despite the utmost search no doctor could be found in the port. In: the meantime Mr. W. Woods, secretary of the regatta committee, secured the.- services of a motor boat and; two police constables". After hours of dragging; they recovered the body at 7 p.m. close off the end of No. 2 wharf.

It is stated that Rowlands was a good swimmer, but caught cramp, as also did Kellan., O'Connor is a poor swimmer. The men hadi been in and out j of the water all day, and that apparent-/ ly accounts for their easily getting' cramp. ] I